Samuel Huntington wrote, “We have to know who we are before we can know what our interests are” (Huntington 10). Although Huntington wrote this in relation to the United States’ identity as a superpower, it is also applicable to the human experience of growing up. As one progresses through the stages of life, they learn about themselves and what they stand for. When young men, really boys, enroll in war, they must grow up very fast, and in doing so, have to learn what it takes most people lifetimes to learn, and nations centuries. In Erich Maria Remarque’s novel, All Quiet on the Western Front World War One is depicted as an encapsulation of all stages of life, as Paul and his schoolmates ‘grow’ from a representation of ‘childlike’ enthusiasm, to a hopeful sense of ‘adulthood’, and end their lives as elderly for which Paul not only watches his friends die, but also dies himself. This will be proven through looking at Paul’s reflection on his schooldays and his own admission that they regarded war as a romantic experience. It will also be demonstrated through looking at Paul and his schoolmates as caregivers for the younger troops when they experience battle for the first time. Finally, it will be shown through the depiction of Paul’s cynicism as his friends die and his own death.
The First World War is depicted as an encapsulation of life as Paul’s reflection on what it was like when he enlisted in the war demonstrates his sense of childlike enthusiasm for war. This is demonstrated through the quotation in chapter two where Paul’s narrative describes the conditions in which they enlisted, “We were a class of twenty young men, many of whom proudly shaved for the first time before going to barracks...We were still crammed full of vague ideas which gave to life, and to the war also an ideal and almost romantic character” (Remarque 21). This quotation takes the form of a flashback and reveals that the ‘youngmen’ who are entering the war are really boys who idealized war. This flashback functions to create a juxtaposition between the characters’ present and past stages of life as during the in-between period Paul and his friends mature from children into adults. The keywords in this quotation are “ideal” and “romantic character” as they demonstrate the naivete of Paul and his friends going to war and help to reveal their childlike enthusiasm for war. The inclusion of the fact and figure that many of the young men were experiencing their ‘first’ shave prior to going to war helps to demonstrate their youthfulness. The structure of the sentence, and in particular the narrative style which is beautifully crafted to resemble poetry, mirrors the feelings of Paul and his schoolmates when they enrolled in war. Even though Paul crafts this thought amidst the devastation of war, and after realizing war was not “ideal” nor “romantic”, Paul’s thought is beautifully crafted to mirror his thoughts at the time of his flashback. This functions to demonstrate a visible change to the reader in which they can recognize a decisive difference between pre-war and wartime Paul. In doing so, war is depicted as a time for growth between life’s stages of childhood and adulthood as Paul entered the war thinking it was ‘romantic’ and ‘ideal’, yet is now recognizing the true devastation of war. In the alternative, this quotation may serve to emphasize the amount of loss experienced by the war as the figure of ‘twenty men’ is emphasized to demonstrate the totality of the losses in the First World War. In the first chapter of their book, War on the Silver Screen: Shaping America’s Perception of History authors Glen Jeansonne, twentieth century American history scholar at University of Louisiana-Lafayette, and David Luhrssen lecturer at the Milwaukee Institute of Art and Design and author of books regarding the representation of historical events in films, write, in reference to the 1930 film adaptation that in the opening scene, “the students show only gullible naïveté” and that “Attractive as martyrdom might be for the young, however, the students,...appear oblivious to any real danger” (Jeansonne & Luhrssen 9). This adaptation of Paul and his friends in their school’s classroom prior to enlisting in the war demonstrates their obliviousness to the dangers they were signing up for. Jeansonne and Luhrssen use the words “gullible and naiïveteé” to describe ‘young men’ when in reality, those terms are most often associated with children.
Most of the novel focuses on the longest stage of life: adulthood, and war is portrayed as Paul and his schoolmates are hardened soldiers and as a result, they act as caregivers, or pseudo-parents, for the newer soldiers, teaching them how to survive and helping them when they stumble. This is evidenced when new recruits join the front and Paul and his friends realize that they arrive without any real training, “We sharpen their ears to the malicious, hardly audible buzz of the smaller shells that are not easily distinguishable” (Remarque 133) and try to help them by, “show[ing] them all the tricks that can save them from death” (Remarque 134). These quotations demonstrate that as experienced soldiers, Paul and his schoolmates attempt to show the younger troops who are new to the front how to survive. The keyword is “tricks” because the advice given is not a foolproof, scientific method, but rather a series of ‘tricks’ which imply a sense of luck which are learned by experience of life. In this case, Paul and his schoolmates have experienced life on the Western Front and understand these tricks through having been there and experiencing war. Personification is used as Paul and his schoolmates ‘sharpen’ the new recruits’ ‘ears’ so that they are able to properly interpret the sounds of the shells and carry out the appropriate action. What is implied through the word choice of ‘sharpen’ is a very detailed understanding of the different sounds on the front. This ties into the notion of ‘tricks’ because knowing the sounds of the battlefield are not a scientific way to survive; rather, knowing the sounds of shells is something that comes with experience of being on the battlefield for so long, similar to how an adult learns the ‘tricks’ of life to make it easier. The meaning of the word ‘tricks’ foreshadows the idea that these steps to survive are not foolproof, as soon after revealing the ‘tricks’ Haie suffers a catastrophic injury to his back and lungs and dies. In the grand scheme of the entire novel, this quotation also foreshadows the next ‘stage of life’ of the soldiers, eventual death of the majority of the characters, including Paul. Latvian historian, Modris Eksteins specializes in German history contends that “All Quiet is in fact then a symptom, rather than an explanation, of the confusion and disorientation of the postwar world, particularly of the generation which reached maturity during the war” (Eksteins 351). Eksteins’ use of the word ‘symptom’ in addition to the theme of maturation suggests a level of personal experience in which Remarque depicts characters who mirror his own experience as a soldier. In the alternative this quote may not be representative of the characters taking the new recruits under their supervision, but rather showing the camaraderie among soldiers.
The final chapters of the novel depict war in terms of the final stages of life, old-age and death. This is demonstrated through the talks of peace in chapter 12, “Everyone talks of peace and armistice. All wait. If it again proves an illusion, then they will break up; hope is high, it cannot be taken away again without an upheaval” (Remarque 293). This quotation talks about peace in connection to a peaceful death as the sentence, “All wait” signifies that the soldiers are waiting for peace, and if it is an “illusion”, or does not happen, then it will lead to more death. At this point, Paul has lost most of his schoolmates and is alone, which makes the word choice of “All” interesting as instead of being part of his group of schoolmates, he is now an empty face in a sea of soldiers. Remarque personifies ‘hope’ to be ‘high’ suggesting a physical elevation of hope. This physical positioning of elevating hope suggests that hope is connected to heaven, and thus, as Paul realizes that without peace or an armistice, death will be fast approaching since Germany is losing the war and the United States has finally entered. The personification signifies that Paul hopes for a peaceful death. The structure in this quotation foreshadows Paul’s impending death in October 1918. The words “all wait” foreshadows that while the soldiers are waiting for peace, they are also waiting for their deaths. In this stage of their lives, it is similar to that of the elderly where their “hope is high” while they “wait”. The final chapters which correspond to the final moments of the war signify that the “wait” for peace is also a “wait” for death, and that although their “hope is high” peace will come too late for Paul and many other soldiers nearing the end of their lives. Historian, Modris Eksteins specializes in German history and believes that
Despite the opening declaration by Remarque of impartiality - that his book was 'neither an accusation nor a confession' - it was in fact both. It was a confession of personal despair, but it was also an indignant denunciation of an insensate social and political order, inevitably of that order which had produced the horror and destruction of the war but particularly of the one which could not liquidate the war and deal with the aspirations of veterans (Eksteins 351). Eksteins comment that Remarque’s text is a “denunciation of an insensate social and political order” relates to Paul’s narrative, “All wait” as it signifies that while Paul ‘waits’ and continues fighting for his country, and his survival, that the reason he is awaiting death is because of the “social and political order”. It is the politics that forced this war, and it is the politics that is causing Paul to experience the stage of life when one awaits death. This quotation could also imply that Paul is optimistic that he will beat the odds and return home; however, the fact that Paul refers to peace as a potential ‘illusion’ implies that he is not optimistic about his future.
It is apparent that war is depicted throughout Erich Maria Remarque’s novel, All Quiet on the Western Frontthrough the stages of life of a soldier which mimics the stages of life of a human being: childhood excitement for the adventure of war, adulthood aiming to survive using their experiences, and old-age and death which they await and hope that their end is peaceful. This was proven through looking at Paul’s flashbacks which connote a sense of childhood excitement and a romanticized view of war. It was also shown how Paul and his schoolmates, due to their ‘life’ experiences, become the ‘adults’ on the front and teach the new recruits tricks about how to survive. Finally, it was shown how at the end of the novel, while Paul is awaiting peace, he is also awaiting death after slowly watching his friends die and that this mirrors old-age and death. While the text examines perceptions of soldiers maturation, this maturation is tied to passing through the stages of life too quickly due to the lifespan of a soldier and the fact that death is imminent.
Works Cited
Primary Sources
Huntington, Samuel P. Who Are We?: The Challenges to America's National Identity. Simon &
Schuster, 2005.
Remarque, Erich Maria. All Quiet on the Western Front. Ballantine Books, 1928.
Secondary Sources
Eksteins, Modris. (1980) All Quiet on the Western Front and the Fate of a War. Journal of
Contemporary History, 15:2, 345-366.
Jeansonne, Glen. “World War I (1914-1918).” War on the Silver Screen: Shaping America's
Perception of History, edited by David Luhrssen, University of Nebraska Press, 2014, pp. 1–27.
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